Meaning & use
honor student
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Meaning
nouncountableAmerican
A student who has earned a place on a school's honor roll or in an honors program because of high grades.
Grammar: Countable noun; use 'a' or 'an' before it, and make the plural 'honor students'.
Patterns
- be an honor student
- become an honor student
She was an honor student all through high school.
The honor students were invited to a special ceremony.
He wants to be an honor student like his older sister.
Word forms
| plural | honor students |
|---|
Common combinations
- straight-A honor student
- He was a straight-An honor student in every subject.
- honor student status
- She maintained honor student status for three years.
- honor student award
- The honor student award went to two seniors.
- honor student list
- His name appeared on the honor student list.
Synonyms and how they differ
- honors student
- Very close in meaning, but often used for a student in a special advanced program rather than just one with high grades.
- high achiever
- Focuses on results and success generally, not specifically on a school honor roll.
- top student
- Suggests being among the best in a class or year, but does not always mean official honor status.
Opposites
Word family
- honor roll noun
- A list of students who have done excellent work.
- honors noun
- Special recognition or an advanced course of study.
Commonly confused: honor student or honorary student?
honor student vs honorary student
An 'honorary student' is someone given a title as an honor without doing the usual work, not a high-achieving student.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'honor student' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Honor student' is a countable noun starting with a vowel sound, so it needs 'an'. 'A' is wrong because of the vowel sound, and no article is wrong for a singular countable noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “honor student”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.